The Reaper Project
by SheKilledBarbie
Summary: In a world where the sun brought hope and the darkness brought death, the remaining population of humanity fought hard to see the next day after Dr. Zinc unleashed the beasts darkness.He wanted the power of the gods, and he needed millions of souls to accomplish it. When Talia gets lost and stumbles upon a small child in the woods, her life turns for the worse.
1. Chapter 1

I DO NOT OWN ANYTHING FROM THE DMC FRANCHISE OR ITS CHARACTERS. FEEL FREE TO MESSAGE ME WITH ANY SUGGESTIONS. THIS STORY IS STILL BEING EDITED WHILE I POST EACH CHAPTER.

INTRODUCTION; BATHE IN BLOODSHED

Ten soldiers clad in hazmat suits sit side by side in a cramped cargo car heading north on a bumpy dusty road to the post-apocalyptic city once known as Bruvilla in Spain. They were sent on a mission to retrieve a package and find the missing team. Though neither of them knew the full details to the mission they knew it wasn't going to be easy, especially nowadays when the morning brought hope and salvation. While the night brought more than just paranoia and darkness.

Their Sergeant knew exactly what he was getting his team into. He was briefed privately about the full details but he wasn't going to tell them anything unless ordered too. He was forced into silence, the leaders of the new world made sure of it. Even so, his team trusted him enough to not put them in harm's way. If only they knew. They just wanted to get the mission over with and get some sleep. A SOS signal lead them to their objective and they patiently waited in awkward silence as the Sergeant took orders from his earpiece.

They were forced into war, disposable bodies at the hands of warmongers. The new president was a narcissistic mentally ill being who ordered that every living human be drafted into war once they hit 18. When the darkness came it took a lot of victims, but the ones in power kept themselves safe. They created "safe havens" for the remaining population of humanity, but it wasn't enough and instead of fighting for oil they fought to survive and stay alive.

Once civilians finished their training, they were to be grouped with nine other soldiers. So far, this group was the only group who came back from missions with all ten soldiers. Only because they looked out for one another. Even so, They knew to always expect the worse, especially how things fell apart so quickly. They treated each other like family and always had since when they were grouped together in the HPC camps.

Each person was given a title based on their skills in real life and forced to undergo intensive training to sharpen them which they used day by day. Their policy was too never leave each other behind, no matter the circumstances, and for that they continue to live longer and sometimes were rewarded with some sort of decent food and drink. But things were getting harder, food was more scarce because most meat from the animals was poisonous and the soil of the earth was tainted with disease. But somehow they managed.

The new leaders of the fallen world viewed the living as livestock and nothing more. They had to prove that they're more than weapons and shields. To prove that they're human beings not machines. The team agreed that, as long as they work together to survive, they could accomplish anything and soon enough they'll spit in the faces of their oppressors. But the more they accomplished the more work was thrown their way and it always got more difficult than the last. Especially when you're only allowed four hours of sleep per day. It was a quiet day outside beside the rumbling of the vehicle. Snow began to fall on the ashen broken streets and the grey clouds absorbed whatever blue sky was left. They pulled into the empty city of Bruvilla and the voice of the GPS told them they were near.

Wildlife roamed around, picking from corpses old and new as they peacefully traveled the neighborhoods and cities without human disturbance. Ever since the cities fell a decade ago the native wildlife flourished and the vegetation slowly crept up the tall buildings taking its rightful place back to nature, before the concrete jungle smothered it for centuries. The soldiers tapped each other shoulder to take a look outside the small square window to admire the beauty of nature coming back to life again. Iris coughed harshly into her gas mask gaining questioning looks from Talia, her best friend, but iris reassured her by shaking her head letting Talia know not to worry. She then looked down at her broken watch and sighed, her focus on its cold gold shell. She slipped into a daydream, the noise outside slowly draining away as she thought about the old world and the new pains in her chest.

The time hands of said watch never moved. Still, looking at it brought a strange calmy sensation within her. She had it since the beginning, it belonged to her husband, Sonny, before he died and whenever she was scared she would stare down at it. It was starting to be a kind of compulsive disorder now, where she had to seek comfort in her past. It brought her courage, just like her husband did and she silently cried every night, the demonic wails and screaming of souls outside the safety of their camp drowning out that sorrow. Talia was always there when she went through those sleepless nights crying with her and only Iris had the privilege to see Talia at her weakest.

Iris turned around to inquire about the estimation of time but no one really knew. They hung their heads low in exhaustion, some taking the opportunity to snooze before they had to flex their muscles. Getting restless with the long wait, she moved to the passenger seat next to the Sergeant in order to take a look out the front window up towards the sky above. Wanting to finally arrive at the checkpoint she pondered what the actual time was, judging by how low the sun had gotten, she determined it to be three ish.

A ping of panic set in, it was five hours of sunlight left until the world plunged into terrifying darkness. Nights out here were almost impossible to survive, and they didn't have the proper equipment at the moment to protect themselves, especially against the big things that come out at night that could rip a tank apart.

Their first time encountering a razorback was terrifying and difficult and the encounter almost took one of their lives. It took months afterwards to built weapons strong enough to destroy them. Their bodies were made by hardened dark blue scales with an exposed spine made out of sharp retractable bone that stuck up and out like razors when they spotted prey. While hunting they enjoyed ramming into things and impaling fleeing prey by rolling into a ball and running you over before fitting you into their crocodile jaws. It was a creature straight out of a prehistoric horror film. Their bones were sharp enough to slice through steel and because of that, nothing was safe enough to travel in and many soldiers lost their lives. Razorbacks emerge from glowing red puddles on the ground at night, mostly unexpectedly, and were the size of the ancient Tyrannosaurus Rex. When chasing prey they ran on all fours, making it impossible to outrun them especially with the ground trembling beneath you.

Iris glances over at Talia, she stood confident and ready for work. Just like the old days. Iris couldn't see her face, but she knew she was ready for whatever was lurking in the dark just like herself. Iris looked away from her to several deer outside grazing as she slipped into the memory of how they meet. They meet while both working as detectives in Chicago. At first, they hated each other's guts. Iris thought Talia was a tab bit extra and inexperienced to be a detective and Talia disliked Iris prudish behavior.

After finding out about them hating each other their boss decided to force them to work together as a joke but their competitive nature caused them to make a good team and soon a strong friendship bonded. They were given a case together about a mad scientist, one who was employed by the top secret government who called himself Dr. Zinc. He was a middle aged man who went rogue and stole tons of top secret material from the most invasive lab in the country and conducted unauthorized human experimentation on missing or kidnapped people. All because he was obsessed with the idea of a project he said would grant humanity with powerful celestial powers.

At first Talia didn't want to work the case, she thought it was a waste of time, that the case was a joke, that the guy was just a nut job, until Iris showed her the reason why there was a strong case against him in the first place. Iris remembered the boiling rage that coiled within her as she spoke venomously about the man who abducted and mutilated twenty-five children in the pass six days. The images in the files haunted their dreams still to this day and they both tried every night to block out the nightmares. Both women had families back then so they eagerly took the case even if it meant spending a little less time with the family. They knew they had to put that monster away before he took their children too.

Together they found one of his labs after an intensive manhunt and new evidence with bodies emerged. The first lab they found was located in the Amazon forest, deep underground. Raiding the lab was hell, Zinc set up countless traps but in the end they caught him kneeling on the ground, hands over head, and ready to accept defeat. They saved countless children but they also lost countless more. Further investigation of the lab led to the discovery of rooms where he harvested human organs, created animal hybrids and rabid mutant children, those of whom unfortunately had to be destroyed. They also found twelve percent of the stolen material. It was a small victory for justice but that was just the chip off the iceberg. Both Talia and Iris earned big raises and promotions for cracking open the most difficult case in that time.

Most of the remains found were from missing residents in Talia's neighborhood and homeless women who disappeared from the town. He extracted the wombs from human females, using them to create monstrosities, things with wings and fangs. When they captured Zinc he was immediately drawn to Talia only wanting to speak with her and no one else. Zinc seemed obsessed with her at times which bother Talia to the point to want to end his life, but he seemed to enjoy her anger. It got so disturbing that Talia threatened to stop speaking to him and he pleaded with her agreeing that if she stood he would tell her everything. And he did. He started off calmly,claiming that the only reason he killed so many people was because he wanted the power of the gods. He hid his work under secret encrypted files labeled The Reaper Project, and in one of those files he claims that he obtained something far more sinister than the television version of the devil, but she was deadly.

Curious, Talia wanted to learn more about this potential hostage but when she asked more questions about this person Zinc grew rigid and tense, avoiding eye contact while gripping the edge of the arms of the chair hard enough that his fingernails bled. All he would say about it was that he made a mistake and that he had to lock her away for safety, but he never said where she was and whether or not he was speaking of a living breathing human or a possible weapon of mass destruction.

During interrogations when the topic wasn't focus on the unknown subject he calls "she" he simply seemed unbothered with his circumstances. He was never serious,consistently smiling without blinking his dark eyes putting the rest of the department on edge from his strange calm behavior. He only felt like answering a few questions at a time before falling silent the rest of the day and ignoring any interaction unless he was willing to insult you. No matter how hard you tried to get a word out of him, he never spoke until HE wanted to and unless Talia was near. During one of his and Talia's sessions he spoke about using the children as lab rats for a liquid solution he made in one of the labs that was raided by them. He claimed that children were the purest of humanity and only they are the ones who most likely can carry these genes and DNA.

The liquid he ejected them with was something he said he extracted from an ancient being and he wanted to see whether human and alien genes can come together and mutate to create super humans. So far none of the subjects pulled through. Most turned into flesh eating cannibals and some died horribly shortly after, then Zinc harvested their organs for more experimentation. He promised he would take them to his main lab in Bruvilla so Talia sent out a team to locate it but she made sure the guards were heavily armed. Before leaving Zinc got upset because Talia wasn't joining them, claiming that the only reason he told her the location of the massive lab was so that she could tag along. Because "She" would love to meet her. But Talia wasn't going to entertain his delusional thoughts any longer.

Talia's team never got to the exact location of the massive secret lab he said to have before he escaped custody with the help of two dark hooded assassins who slaughtered the police officers driving him to the town. All sixteen of them. Witnesses that saw the bold murder were baffled and shook as they recounted the brutal murders in broad daylight. Police felt useless which caused the country to fall into a heavy police state. Both women were devastated, they wondered how two people could kill sixteen heavily armed officers so swiftly, and why in a public place, a highway at that. They didn't know who the assassins were or what their connection to Zinc was but they knew they were highly skilled. The escape of Zinc set them back immensely and Talia left the department to hide and protect her family, no longer feeling that her child was safe with Zinc still out in the world.

Once news hit the CIA and Department of criminal justice, they were furious. After finding a safe home for Talia and her family, They started hunting him and putting million dollar bounties on his head as their anger for the fallen officers and the top secret material being missing and never found sent them on overdrive. They classified him as a terrorist and tried everything in their power to destroy and wipe him from existence. But no one believed that the government were the victims, rumors circled around about there being government involvement in the attacks causing civil uproar, taking the focus off of Zinc for the time being. A few months after his escape, Zinc went invisible, never to be seen or heard from again, until seven years ago. When he unleashed hell on earth. Literally.

CHAPTER 1: FEVER 

When Zinc hacked into multiple networks, broadcasting his plan to destroy humanity no one really took it seriously. He mentioned using "her" darkness to wipe out the species poisoning the earth. Iris was at Talia's for the weekend with her children as her husband Sonny and Talia's husband William was away on a business trip when the broadcast overran the show they were watching. She saw the horror on Talia's face as she watched Zinc speak through the television. He mentioned her name and then went on a rant about finding her and making her into a wife. News channels brushed it off and quickly stop the broadcasting, chalking it up as a insane psychopath with an obsession. But Iris and Talia knew otherwise. Two months after that and seven days before Christmas, the emergency evacuation alarm sounded in every country as a massive black cloud swept throughout the world causing confusion and worldwide panic. It appeared out of nowhere and it caught people by surprise, especially the government.

Scientists were baffled, they scrambled to find the cause and effect of the fast approaching odd cloud and they warned everyone to stay indoors and shut the windows in order to not risk exposure to the unknown phenomenon. Many people had no choice or no escape. The unaffected in rich countries evacuated to underground vaults while the poor absorbed most of the horror. Those who were exposed to the gas experienced a realm of continuous darkness, where the world plunged into the deepest depths of hell.

The thick cloud stood for two long days. There was no sun shining just infinite darkness. Everyone was frighten, they could hear the creatures wandering around outside their homes sniffing at doors and hissing before moving on to the next house as if they were looking for a specific person. Gut wrenching screams of the less fortunate rang in the darkness and no one came out their homes for fear of being next.

For two days the lucky people who survived outside were wandering in the dark and had experienced vivid illusions. They claimed to see monsters, devils, demons and other horrors. They spoke about fleeing from shadows and complained about feeling sick. After the smoke dissipated no one knew what to do, most people found bunkers of their own and hid while others thought it was just another fear mongering tactic by the government and stood behind instead of going with the evacuation team to be monitored for any chemical illness. The ones who stood behind raided places for food and merchandise that they couldn't afford before and hid underground, fearing that worse things were to come. And they were right.

Before it happened, Talia remembered watching her son playing in the yard of her house, his face pointed up at the sun as he spun in the tall grass peacefully. She sat on a blue rocking chair, listening to the music of the birds and trees when she just so happened to look up in time to hear the alarms and see the avalanche of darkness sweep over houses and people in seconds in the distance. She dropped her glass and stood up, her eyes falling onto her son before running to grab him as the darkness closed in like a giant black wave engulfing a city. She remembered hearing the wails and eerie groans coming from the cloud closing in on them as the energy from the cloud tried pulling them in. Like a black hole its force wanted to absorb them both and erase them from existence. She fought hard against it, grabbing her son's hand, she pulled him to her before locking themselves in the house just as the tsunami of darkness came ramming into the steel door with brute force. The Plexiglas windows cracked slightly with the force of impact which shook the house and cut off power.

Iris was at work when it happened, she had gotten stuck inside an elevator that malfunctioned when the darkness hit. The force of impact shattered windows and shook buildings. She tried her hardest to be heard but her pleas fell on deaf ears. It took two days for someone to find her and when they did, they looked like they've seen something horrible. Iris remembered asking what happened before they whisked her off home where her children and nanny were cowering in. The nanny thankfully stood in that day and decided to give the children puzzles to work on which saved them from exposure. Iris gave her a huge bonus because of that.

The next few days after the smoke dissipated, people started getting extremely sick and delusional. It started as a fever causing a silent christmas night while the people who choose to stay behind tried to ease their symptoms. No one came out their homes or really celebrated, only a handful of people who weren't affected from the sudden illness roamed the streets singing christmas carols as if everything was normal. No one noticed the shadows approaching but then again the darkness of the night hid them well and the eggnog and booze warmed bellies and fogged minds.

When the screaming happened the singing stopped and the bloodshed began. Iris was sitting at the dinner table after prayer with her family when the front door started breaking apart, her husband was too weak with the fever to help as he coughed up blood into his soup. When the door busted open the cold air brought in more than a chill, shadowy hellhounds tore through her living room into the dining room snarling and ripping flesh off bones. Iris was the only one who escaped from their jaws.

Talia just so happened to look out the window of her home just in time to see somebody being pulled in half by their arms from two sets of massive glowing teeth. Then she turned around in time to see her husband decapitate their son as her son sat down watching cartoons. Her husband's pale grey skin decorated with specks of crimson and his eyes were blacker than charcoal as he snarled through jagged bloody teeth. When he proceeded to kill her, she stopped him with a fork in the eye and held no remorse for it after watching her son die so horribly. But even that was just the beginning.

The inflicted started changing, they got violent and began slaughtering each other or themselves and others. Coloring the streets and homes with red and white. People were being chased by others outside leaving bloody trails behind them or limbs after being hacked by the inflicted alive. The inflicted children were screeching through the streets, ripping fleeing people out their cars to tear them into pieces violently and shove the chucks of flesh in their mouths. 24 hours later the inflicted dropped dead. Just like that. It seemed to have an ending period which saved most of the unaffected population.

Most survivors called it freighting, the way people changed within a split second, or in their case, a day. You were having dinner with your family and suddenly your spouse murders your children in front of you. It was then that the new creatures were born. People were quickly picked off into the night, dragged through the snow as their bodies left marks that disappear into shadows. On that day, Talia and Iris both lost their husbands and children, both to the illness and the beasts. They vowed to have each others back since then and never have they failed each other.  
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A year after that, every survivor over the age of 18 that the army rescued along with any prisoners were forcefully drafted into the war against the monsters when the government got taken over by dictators. These people made empty promises, brainwashing people to believe that they can make life better for the remaining population of humanity. But once in power they were no better than the others before them and their desperation for control over human life left millions dead. the fever poisoned the air which started becoming toxic to humans as foreign bacteria spread into the atmosphere. Tiny silver insect like anomaly were found in most corpses obtained by scientists to find the cure for the rapidly mutating virus. No one could breathe the air anymore without becoming sick and mutating into something horrible. Only a lucky few who had the vaccine were able to survive for a short period of time outside without becoming exposed to the alien virus. It targeted people at random and new research suggested that it only targets people with a specific set of DNA. After being affected, you either transform into the inflicted and die within 24 hours, or you end up with painful blisters that grow into basketball sized boils which killed you when bursting.

During the draft Talia was upset about it. She tried everything in her power to not be branded by a number and it caused her to be tortured in the most inhumane ways. Torture was brought up as a training method for disobedience in soldiers. Basically what they wanted to do was break you and force you to submit to the new world order. And they would do anything to turn you into one of their pawns. Iris was never the type to disobey, she leaned more on Talia for courage.

Her brother was the one who saved her and stopped the torture temporarily as he promised them and her that he would be the one to help ease her into military life. He thought with his history in the military that he could persuade the agents to release her into his custody, But they choose to torture him instead, not heeding to Talia's pleas. They separated them, sending them to different teams but Talia's wasn't okay with that. The thought of him being beaten for standing up for her infuriated her even more and she acted out accordingly, not caring for the consequences. Until they threaten to kill her brother along with Iris.

After the darkness came he was apart of the evacuation team that rescued her after she had to kill her crazed husband who happened to kill their only son. After he was released from the torture chamber her brother trained her to be a better more agile soldier and because of that they've been inseparable ever since. Until they deployed him to collect a top secret artifact in which he never returned. They were the only family each other had and she was devastated. She wasn't leaving until she found her brother.

Iris was the one who just wanted to survive, she promised her daughter and husband she would live for them and going to war was breaking that promise. Still, Iris too learned how to cope with military life, her life as a detective boosting that confidence in her survival. The team that was set up was perfect. They all wanted the same thing. To overthrow the dictator now running this country and be free. They just needed to end the war first.

When they had finally arrived at the checkpoint Iris roused from her nap. The banging of metal rattled her brain as Red ordered all soldiers to leave the truck immediately. Boots to the ground and guns pointed, each soldier hopped out the overheated truck and into the overgrown garden of a half destroyed mansion. Sergeant Red moved in front of the team, his steps light and quiet. He pointed the AK47 flashlight into the gaping black hole to the entrance of the foyer illuminating the cracked and crumbling blue moldy walls that held large old paintings of the once rich. He stepped further in, checking each corner in the entrance for any signs of the inflicted. The tracer on the ground blinked rapidly, illuminating the wall it was against slightly yet there was no trace of the other team. Satisfied enough, Red gave the signal that all was clear and the soldiers poured into the exposed foyer in perfect formation.

"Okay listen, like I said before we only have two objectives, don't go wandering off without a partner. This area is a red zone so be careful not to stay in the dark too long and watch all sides." Red said and got a yes sir in unison by the team. They parted ways, searching the area for anything strange be it object or thing until Red got word from the big boss about their next move. Red watched them go before pressing onto his earpiece to talk.

"Alpha, this is Sergeant Red, we have reached our destination, over," Red said in his headset, he looked over his squad, eight men and two women and saw the exhaustion in their being. It's been awhile since they had any real rest and food, and he wondered how long they could keep going before their luck ran out. It seemed intentionally, for the leader of the free world to forget to properly care for the soldiers in her care.

Talisker was leaning on the wall standing crossed armed watching Red when he noticed the tension on his brother's clad shoulders. He figured it was because Red was waiting for the reply on the other end of the mic but closer inspection showed Talisker that something else was bothering him. Feeling a pair of eyes on him, Red look up through his goggles at his twin brother, gritting his teeth as minutes pass without a response.

"What's wrong bro?" Talisker asked and Red shrugged his shoulders, not wanting to blow his cover. Red then glanced over at Iris as she searched through a pile of rubble at the bottom of the spiraling stairs to ask what she found in which she shook her head. Talisker watched her as though she was another species of being. He wondered how she was able to resist his charm, unlike so many other women.

Red snapped his fingers catching his brother's attention and stopping the drool fest from happening before Iris turned around and caught him being a creep again. Talisker smirked at his brother before pushing off the wall and walking straight towards Iris trying to prove to him that not even the apocalypse could stop him from doing what he wanted, but once again iris ignored his advances, not in the mood to play his annoying games today.

Back in their days, Talisker was a well known pick up artist, going home with different women every night while his brother was in Harvard University studying business and technology. Both twins were red heads but Red wore his hair long and his color was more brighter. Talisker wore his hair brushed back, his hair reaching just above his ears. When the apocalypse happened Talisker was in a motel, finishing with one of his girlfriends. She was killed the minute she stepped out the door by a one armed madman wielding an Axe who happened to be bleeding out from the stump that was once his limb. He actually liked her and felt that no one could compare.

But when he met Iris she intrigued him, she never caved so easily and she was very strong willed. Talisker never been rejected by anyone until Iris and for some reason, it made him want her more. When he first laid eyes on her he was obsessed. Her long blonde hair and bright green eyes were perfect for him but most importantly it was her strength. He fell in love with her after that one night that the whole team got drunk. . She was always so sweet when she wasn't turning him down that he couldn't help but to fall in love with her nurturing persona.

Talia on the other hand was hard as nails. She was the type of woman to headbutt you for calling her sexy, which Talisker ended up finding out about the hard way. She was small but fearless and brave, always spurring with Beast who's 220 Lbs of muscle compared to her 120 Lbs. She was 5'0 with brown eyes and black curly hair that reached past her shoulders and framed her face, her full lips poured frequent profanity with every sentence and she had a gash across her left cheek from a bar fight but it did nothing to her self-esteem.

Beast walked into the foyer holding a small brown box with hieroglyphics engraved in the wooded shell. He threw the box to Talisker who caught it like a bomb, he looked wide eyed at him and Beast nodded his head. The box felt light and it bemused them that something so simple was so important. Talisker laughed "This is SA-481? Wow. Are you sure," he asked Beast who in return pulled out a hologram from the device on his arm. He pressed several buttons before the screen popped up with the picture of the box and nodded in approval.

"Guess that means it's going to be an early day after all, " Beast said excitedly through his mask to Talisker who brushed the specks of dust off the top of the box. He carefully turned it over reading the ancient scripture, it read "Inside lies the light, do not disturb." he scoffed, looking forward to not following the rules of the box, he quickly opened it and inside was the outline where a cross use to be. He slammed the box shut wondering where the hell the actual artifact was.

"Did you just open that…. What was inside?" Iris asked beside him, startled by the abrupt banging sound that echoed through the empty halls. She was suddenly curious when she noticed the box was opened. She stood behind Tali looking over his shoulder as his fingers ran over the wood and engravings. He looked back over his shoulder to peer at the gas mask covered face of iris, feeling butterflies flutter ever so slightly from the close proximity of his crush standing behind him. He was glad she didn't see the blush form on his cheeks from behind the mask. He was too cool for that.

"Nothing babe, just an empty box," Talisker said to her before turning around to show her the empty space in the box. Iris smiled softly into her mask, amused by the way Talisker acted in her presence. Even though she couldn't see the wide grin on his face, she knew what he was doing. She moved back from him causing him to frown and she walked away, feeling his eyes on her.

"Don't call me babe, I'm a grown ass adult." and with that Iris coughed started a conversation with Talia, not wanting to be near Talisker any longer for fear she might headbutt him in the face like Talia did. Sonny, Iris husband, would always tell Iris that Talia was a bad influence on her. Maybe he was right, but then again opposites attract and Talia was the perfect friend for Iris who felt that Talia brought balance into her life.

Talisker chuckled before turning to Beast. "Well SA-481 is missing, where did you find this," Talisker asked Beast who shook his head in disapproval. "You weren't supposed to open that idiot, now we have to spend the night here finding that thing," Beast spat, beyond pissed off but he told Talisker he found it at the edge of the forest out back. The forest with a cloud of black smoke looming over and around it. The forest they weren't supposed to go near, no matter what.

Talisker shrugged, not in the mood to deal with Beast's bipolar mood swings he walked up to his brother handing him the empty this artifact must've went missing after the recon team had reported it in. They were supposed to be at this base but there was no trace that they ever made it besides the empty box and the tracer left on the ground in the foyer.

Red grabbed the small box in annoyance before speaking into the headset, "Alpha this is Red speaking, do you copy, over, " Still no response, "Alpha, This is Sergeant Red, we have found the location of the building, the container of the artifact was opened and the artifice is missing along with the first team of soldiers. Over. " Talia stopped talking to Iris to watch Red repeat himself into the headset.

"Alpha can you hear me, what's the next objective? Over," Red was starting to get the feeling that something was wrong and the team felt it too. Aston, a young quite boy by the age of 18, who wore huge glasses and use to work in a comic store, walked in with Mali, a 23 year old former surfer champion. Neither knew how to properly handle a gun, but each contributed to the survival of the team in their own way and for some reason, Mali looked at Aston like his own baby brother.

Aston knew how to use technology and was highly intelligent often helping with hacks and blueprints for weapons whereas Mali knew how to survive off the land, never failing to find something edible to hunt and eat. Knowing the ocean's was also pretty handy as well as making traps and poisons. They rejoined the team back in the lobby, struggling to shift their weaponry over their shoulders. Mali spoke loudly, joking about the sinking sun and the tyrannosaurus sized monsters that roam at night. Joking was something they did when they were nervous, but it was putting the rest of team on edge.

Where's my brother?" Talia asked them stopping their loud chattering before she caught a headache. Both boys looked at each other as if not understanding the question at first but as always it was Mali who took the lead and spoke. Aston remained quiet like always. Allowing Mali to speak on his behalf.

"Falcon and Drill are still out looking for him and the other team. Drill is checking out the Barn out back and falcon is on top of the building, making sure daemons aren't approaching." Aston said. Falcon was good with snipers and Drill was good with Chainsaws and heavy melee weaponry so it was ideal for them to be scouting the area for anything strange.

"And what have you idiots been doing? Gossiping! This isn't a time for jokes little boys!" Beast shouted interrupting their conversation because he bothered by their lack of seriousness. Talia cleared her throat, not liking the rudeness of being interrupted by beast but she was going to let him slide for now. Aston remained quiet, staring through his goggles at Beast like an abused child would towards an abusive parent but Mali was unfazed by his random sudden outbursts of patronizing speeches.

"Actually, old big goof, we were scouting the area, you know, like you usually do before you say somewhere is officially safe," Mali said sarcastically causing Beast to grip the handle of his mini gun tightly before speaking through clenched teeth, "you better watch your tongue young man, before I rip it out your throat!" the shouting match had Iris clutching her head as their voices echoed through the wide empty halls.

"Enough!" Shouted Red, stopping the argument as fast as it started. Talia walked out the entrance into the long dark back hallway where the door to the back yard was not in the mood to see dudes arguing with each other while her brother was out there in the dark. The door frame had small icicles forming on the outside and she shivered at the thought of the cold.

She overheard Red telling the boys that their base camp wasn't responding but to sit tight for the meantime so he can figure out what was going on before she step outside to join the search to find her brother and the other team. The grass was green and lush with a hint of white and she wished that she could feel it beneath her bare feet. She hasn't felt grass in years and missed the feel of it. She and her son loved to run through the meadows and forests, no shoes unless there was a place with sharp rocks of course, but now her days are spent behind this rubber and plastic prison.

She so badly wanted to take her gloves off and run her fingers through the wet grass but she knew not to risk it. Even if she was vaccinated, nothing felt natural anymore. The world was the poisonous dart frog that wanted to kill you if you ever touched it. The cold penetrated her thick boots giving off a slight chill to her toes and her goggles fogged up from the humidity inside her suit.

The sun was almost gone with two hours left to go of sunlight. They might have to spend the night here, hopefully they'll survive it. She watched her feet sink into the pillow of grass not paying attention to anything but the thoughts of her past. She never realized Iris calling to her before she walked pass the yellow tape, nor had she notice the rain or the tiny glowing yellow eyes watching in the shadows of the trees as she walked into the quiet forest that held the biggest secrets. The darkness wrapped itself around Talia greedily, shrouding her until Iris watched her disappear from view. Iris panicked, she ran to get the others but it was too late, Talia had already entered the barrier between both worlds into the dead trees of the most deadliest forest to be born from the darkness. Wicker forest.


	2. Chapter 2: Wicker forest

**Wicker forest was once owned by a rich religious family who slaughtered stranded travelers and servants in the 1800s. They were in constant need of servants which made authorities question what was going on and the report suggested that the family might have killed them for sacrifice. When news hit the small town, the townspeople thought of them as witches and a trail convicted them of the multiple murders. Before they could be burnt at the stake the family ran, taking the remaining slaves with them to satisfy their sick needs. The family disappeared into the backwoods of the property, leaving the mansion and land abandoned since then. People didn't dare to step foot on their property for fear of being cursed by the supposed witches until the late 1900s.**

 **A century later, reports about ghosts and the mansion history kept homeowners away but because of the lack of surveillance and foot traffic it was a perfect place for crime and sacrifices to take place on the land up until the 20th century. The most wicked crimes came from here, thus giving its name. The government took over the property and it's been used as a check point for soldier's since then. In the early 2000s Zinc got government permission to built a secret lab here, where he kept his very own man made viruses and diseases that he created for the purpose of war. The lab was given to him by the CDC and they ensured that it was well hidden enough that not even the head of government knew exactly where it was. After the war they were never able to shut down the lab due to the monsters that flooded the forest. Soldiers or people who entered the forest would disappear, no matter how well equipped you were, wicker forest would swallow you whole and you'll never be seen again. It's the birthplace for Zinc's failed experiments and the final resting place for anyone who dared to enter.**

 **The sun settled behind the trees by the time Talia passed the yellow tape and entered the dark forest. The sound of rain penetrated the silence like tiny rocks falling from the sky. She didn't realize where she was, her feet moving on their own as a nauseating energy pulsated around her but she hardly noticed. Her mind on her child and life, on how simple it used to be. She had no clue that she was walking in the most dangerous place on earth. Her team were given specific instructions and told to never enter wicker forest because they lacked the equipment to kill the monsters in there but the darkness seemed enticing. The pull she felt fogged her mind and her feet moved on their own directing her further into the bare dark forest.**

 **She never noticed how deep she was until the sudden sound of music broke through the howling wind. Its soft classical melody forced her out of the trance she was in and she stopped to look around her but the darkness was too thick on either side that when she reached a hand out to touch a tree bark she could barely see her gloved fingers.**

 **"** **what the fuck," she mumbled as she step back fumbling with her Beretta ARX100 in the dark while her nerves shook her hands. She was never afraid of the dark, but now there was a reason to be. The flashlight on her automatic rifle did nothing to break the thick blanket of darkness around her and her breathing got heavier when her chest tighten. The panic creeping slowly into her veins like poison, She decided to move in the direction opposite of the melody, fearing that it was a trap set up by rabid human like cannibals. Something shuffled in the direction she was walking in and she froze immediately. She drew her weapon over her shoulder and readied the aim, flipping up the sights out of habit. Her breathing fogged up her glasses and her heart pounded loudly in her ears and her eyes strained to see in the dark. Memories of the monsters flooded her mind and she immediately regretted being out here. The only thing keeping her sane at the moment was the soft classical music playing in the dark. She listened carefully to the sound around her, trying to block out the song. Anything could happen in the dark, especially in this time and place. She moved carefully over the shrubs and sticks she felt on the ground, mindful not to awake anything sleeping in this barren hell. The continuous rain made the hard soil melt and her boots sank slightly into the mud causing her to grimace at the slightest bit of noise she made with them as she forcefully pulled them out the sinking stew of dirt and water with every step.**

 **The music never let up it echoed throughout the forest. As the wind picked up it blew the sound in every direction. Talia felt slightly disoriented as she was trying her best to hear for any other movement but the music got louder as the rain quicken its pace.**

 **She maneuvered throughout the trees down a steep hill careful not to slip and pull the trigger as she held her finger on it just in case. She didn't want to draw more unwanted attention to herself as she tried to retrace her steps or find some sort of shelter. The crunching under her boots made her stop momentarily fearing that whatever was under her foot could be something slippery enough that can cause her to trip down the hill and risk injury. The music seemed to get closer and closer making her flashlight flicker oddly. She flicked her finger on it making it useful once more only to point into the darkness to find the music's source, but once again she was meet by the gray dead barks of the trees just inches from her. The gun itself was getting rusted and she regretted that the team didn't have the better, newer or proper equipment. They always had to improvise.**

 **She pointed her flashlight down to the ground illuminating crushed skulls and small traces of leftover ashe and she stumbled a little on the uneven terrain by the horrific surprise. It was a sea of skeletal remains going down the hill. It appeared to her that this was dump site for bodies, most of the bones were cut surgically and some looked butchered almost as if they were hacked by a machete. Some bones had teeth marks while others were crushed in pieces. She felt like she was walking through a graveyard of the dead, except these people weren't buried nor at rest. She crouched down to take a better look, picking up bone fragments with tweezers and gently storing them in airtight bags that the team were required to carry. She collected several samples for the scientists at base, picking through jaw bones and skeletal limbs, she thought to at least determine the identity of the victims and give them proper burials. There was so many bones, she felt that this could've been victims of a serial killer, or maybe the remains of victims who were never found after being killed by the family who owned the mansion. Or maybe something worse, The victims of Zinc. She placed the gun on the wet ground so that she could put the samples into her pocket but she saw something that caught her eye from the illuminated path the flashlight created. Squinting through her goggles and wiping excess water away, she noticed the diluted heavy pool of blood running down the hill and mending with some of the ashe. The rain washing away the thickness of it and Talia knew whomever it was might be dead already, or even worse, turned into mutated flesh eating humanoids meal for the day. No way in hell could someone survive that much blood lost.**

 **The heavy pools of blood were leading down the bone ridden nature trail, the blood trickled through the soil staining the knee she had on the ground turning her yellow suit red as the water tried washing most of it away from the earth. She picked up the gun and followed the trail with the flashlight until the light couldn't penetrate the darkness anymore. It was then that She heard the low hissing coming from a couple of feet behind her.**

 **She reacted quickly, getting up and spinning around she readied herself to shoot whatever creature lurked in the dark. Once again, they were too deep into the shadows to see and she was meet with continuous darkness. The rain drowned out all other noise and she started catching butterflies in her stomach.**

 **"** **Who's there?" she said as she turned in every direction with her aim ready and the safety off, making sure she was able to react quickly and not be blindsided by whatever was hunting her. She stood still and listened, the wind roared and the rain pounded the ground making it harder to hear any movement causing her senses to decrease. She couldn't hear or see but she felt them watching her. These type of monster's, their auras, made you sick when they were near as they literally drain your soul from your body.**

 **They appeared last year, a new species of monster that hunted in packs, killing everything in their path, no matter how Jurassic the being can be. The first and last thing you saw was their teeth before your body would tense up for the incoming attack. She looked up past the bare trees to the full blood moon looming overhead and knew her time was running out. The longer she stood in the forest the more likely she was to never escape and she put herself at risk of encountering the bigger things hiding in the shadows. A rustle in the branches above her head caused her to look up and she flinched as suddenly all around her the darkness lite up with yellow glowing eyes.**

 **It was them and they surrounded her in unsettling quietness. She fell on her back trying to get away from their piercing gaze. lifting up her weapon she started shooting blindly in the dark. The shadows let out a roar of daemonic laughter as the bullets did nothing but give the darkness temporary light as the shells fell hotly on the cold ground. They moved around her, snarling and hissing as she struggled to get up and position herself. They taunted her, almost as if they were cats playing with mice before ripping it apart. She shot at one but it missed as the creature disappeared and reappeared in the same second but behind her causing her to duck and roll before pushing it back with some more rounds.**

 **It was because of her training that she knew to dodge in time as a spear like object soared at her through the air where her head would've been. She rolled out the way towards an opening of their circle and got back up shooting at the closer ones coming near her, swiftly evading the attacks from all sides until the magazine emptied and she had to turn around and run blindly into the thickness of the trees. Puddles splashed beneath her feet as the shadows moved above and between the trees behind her, their bright glowing red mouths and yellow eyes the only indication that she was being chased, along with the howling and daemonic screeching as their shrouded black bodies blended in with their new-found environment. She needed to find cover fast.**

 **The adrenaline pumped through her veins and her breathing came out harshly as she ran as quickly as possible, dropping everything that weighed her down, including the gun and flashlight. The rain made the ground slippery and she struggled to catch her breath at the pace she was going but she had no choice but to keep pushing forward. She used her hands to find her way out the dense bare trees making the thought of not falling and being eaten seem bleak. She didn't understand what drew her here in the first place nor the reason why she didn't pay attention and walked in here unknowingly. She knew what the darkness was capable of since it took her only living child. This forest was where that darkness was born and their nightmares came alive.**

 **Talia was so focused on getting away from the monsters that she didn't realize the small boulder before the tip of her foot banged into it making her tumble down the steep hill she was running on. She hit the trees on her way down falling on her ankle and screamed as a bone stuck out from her skin into the back of her boot. blood seeped out the into the soil and the ground eagerly absorb the nutrition, seeming to hum in satisfaction.**

 **The forest came alive then as the ground trembled and trees separated themselves from their roots forming menacing faces on their bark with piercing hollow eyes and mouths made out of hundreds of rows of teeth. Talia moved backwards on her rear trying viciously to get away from the threatening hungry trees that were quickly closing in on her, until she fell backwards four feet into a hole in shallow murky water. The water turned red as she struggled to sit up straight as the shock of water suddenly entering her lungs sent her into temporary panic. Every movement made would spill more blood into the water and she risked her ankle snapping more and bleeding out into the small pool.**

 **She leaned one shoulder against the wet rock to hold herself up as she rested on the knee from her undamaged leg. Her back hurted but the adrenaline kept the pain at bay and she knew it wasn't broken. She felt up the mossy wall, trying to find a sturdy enough vine to help pull herself up. The moon was high in the sky now and it illuminated the hole slightly and she saw an opening in the stone wall. She looked up in defeat, the rain running over her broken goggles as she gave up the idea of trying to climb and instead dragged herself along the wall into the opening of the underground cavern.**

 **It was humid and slightly flooded from the rain, small debris littered the floor and the air was hard to breathe. Talia sat down and took her helmet off not caring about the sickness as she took off her boot grimacing as the bone made it difficult as it kept getting caught on the inside. She felt dizzy and nauseous, the pain making it hard to breathe and focus as she looked over the injury. She knew if she didn't do something now the exposed flesh would get infected soon. Something shuffled above causing some soil to fall in the hole and Talia looked up to see glowing eyes watching her. The shadow cats stood at bay watching her struggle with her injuries and the trees loomed behind them. At first it seem to her that they were nervous about entering the hole but Talia knew better. They were waiting for her to die she assumed.**

 **She moved further back into the cave out of their view dragging her leg and leaving a trail of red behind. She searched her suit for any other weaponry but couldn't find anything except a twig beside her. She turned around to look into the cave and couldn't see deeper in, no matter how much her eyes tried to adjust to the darkness. She looked away to her ankle again and decided she needed to do something about it now, she gripped her ankle with both hands and, biting down on her knee, she adjusted the bone back in place with a sharp snap. She cried loudly as the pain rocketed throughout her body and she had to hold herself up before passing out then. The wound bleed more and she shivered as she tore the rubbery fabric from the suit around her ankle and tied it tightly around the open wound to stop the bleeding and keep the bone in place. After that she scooted over to lean against the slimy wall, closing her eyes temporary to ease the pressure in her head.**

 **She felt hot and cold at the same time, an infection creeping into her system caused her to sweat and her vision to blur and she knew she was slowly becoming severely dehydrated. She felt the ground around her looking for tinder and rock to start a fire but a small whimper stopped her in fear. A faith glow appeared at the far end of the cave accompanied by a classical tune and Talia barely made out the outline of a body it was coming from. Uncertain about the phenomenon she crawled on her belly to get closer, barely noticing the shadows watching on the ceiling as she put a bloody gloved hand on the lifeless heap of flesh. The smell of blood and waste strongly hit her and she had to keep from vomiting. The pale light she saw earlier was trapped underneath the small body and Talia thought about how much she needed that light so she turned the body over to be met by a horrifying sight. It was a half dead child. Their arms stuck tightly against their chest as they weeped weakly behind a ebony ironed mask. Between tiny broken fingers was the relic from the box. Etched into the gold plating was serpents and doves and Talia was awed by its beauty. The light shone dimly in the dark cave revealing the extent of the injuries the child suffered from making Talia nauseous from the smell of rot and the sight of flesh.**

 **The child's rib cage was partially exposed, veins pumped blood out onto the stone ground underneath creating a pool beneath them both. Talia cradled the small whimpering child carefully into her arms, trying to quiet them as she tried to ease the tension in her leg and find an exit. Talia decided to hold the child until they were gone, she knew that the child would soon succumb to their injuries but at least they wouldn't die alone, like her child did. She never was able to comfort her dying child the same way which made her situation more sad. The mask on the child's face was embedded into the flesh, making it impossible to remove without it pulling their face off and Talia had to keep herself from raging as she ran a bloody glove over the mask.**

 **"** **Shh it's alright honey, I'm here. You're not alone." Talia told the child in her arms wiping away sweat from her face with her free hand smudging crimson on her forehead. The sobbing child stopped momentarily and Talia thought they passed right then. She looked down at the child with tears in her eyes, another life lost to the monsters. The cross was pulsating with a blue hue now, but Talia was too heartbroken to realize as she removed the cross from the tiny fingers and placed it far away from them. She didn't care about the relic, she just wanted to get out of the dark and give this child a proper burial.**

 **"** **This isn't fair," Talia said in a low raspy voice. She figured no one would come looking for her in this forest. Her team wouldn't dare enter the forest without proper equipment, they knew better. She was going to die here she thought, rocking back and forth with the stiff body.**

 **Talia wondered how the child got out here in the first place and who was responsible for their horrific death and torture. The only person who put masks on little kids was zinc but this mask they had on was almost regal, their outfit was steel plated too. The only thing ruined about it was the huge hole on the steel where a sharp object could've cut through. She looked over the still body laid across her legs and sobbed, all the energy she had from the adrenaline rush earlier faded into exhaustion and pain and she soon felt herself slowly starting to feel heavy. She leaned her back against the cold wall and closed her eyes still holding onto the battered body of the child.**

 **Talia dreamt of finding Zinc and ending his body count and the chaos he inflicted upon the earth. As she slept, the shadows waited around her and the body of the child. They manifested into shadow-cat like creatures, hissing with their glowing incisors at Talia as she slept. The bigger Shadow moved the others out the way and walked up to the lifeless body in Thalia's arms sniffing the child and nudging them with their muzzle. The child flinched slightly giving some signs of life and the creatures howled, somewhat pleased with the small gesture of life. The cross seemed to get brighter as soon as the lesser monsters approached, even being across the room, it was still strong enough to penetrate through their shrouded armor and they couldn't do anything but whimper, except for the larger one, who stood standing over the two of them unfazed. It growled and the others retreated, disappearing into black pools that formed beneath them. The cross was pulsating again causing the shadow to growl lowly as it tried to ease the child out of Talia's arms gently with a shrouded paw.**

 **The beam from the cross was getting intense for the monster but it was stronger than the others. It boldly entered the halo of light trying to surround the two and moved quickly to get the child in their massive jaws and place them on the other side from Talia and far away from the UV ray of light coming from the cross, moving into the darkest area it could find where the light couldn't reach them both. The creature softly placed the child on the ground, spitting out any blood that flowed into its mouth as if it was poisonous. The shadow shook off the heat, letting out a low displeased growl before laying beside the cold body. It's darkness wrapped itself around the child for a moment, enveloping them with pulsating black smoke before finally dissipating in thin air. Just then something amazing happened, the broken flesh on the child started mending back together, leaving a very small cut in their side and their breathing came out regularly. Not being able to see out the iron mask the child stared up at the ceiling blindly, reaching up to feel the humid air only to feel the shadows wet nose touch their palm. They drew back at the sudden touch but quickly reach out their hand again. Giggling in glee.**

 **Thalia stirred, the sound of laughter awaking her from a nightmare and she shivered at the sudden cold as her under shirt soaked in sweat. Her eyes remained shut as she listened carefully once more to her surroundings. The dripping of water echoed loudly in the cave and She figured she was in another dream, but the pain on her ankle proved otherwise. She knew then she wasn't imaging the small voice or the hell she just went through. Thalia opened one eye but around her was thick darkness. The only light that shone was the light from the artifact and all she saw was shadows playing on the stone wall.**

 **It's blue hue gave minimal sight into the cave but it also gave off a calming energy as it touched her feet. She knew she felt something when she touched it by accident but she quickly discarded it. Artifacts such as that are usually cursed and she knew better than to tamper with top secret material. She fully opened both eyes and was startled by the quick movements of the dark shapes playing in the shadows. She couldn't make out the figures but she could see the glowing yellow eyes which made her stop breathing for a moment, her eyes glued to the small child embracing the monster.**

 **A harsh cough escaped from her cracked lips, startling the two beings and interrupting their fun. The sound bounced off the walls in the wide cave making the creature jump up and look her way. It growled as a threat, sulking her way and she shut her eyes tightly to block out the scene. But the shadow wanted to make its presence known and judging by her reaction, it knew it intimidated her. It stood over her once again. It opened its wide mouth, exposing long stained glowing red canines and Talia felt its hot breath on her face. She moved her face to the side, uncomfortable with the close proximity of the shadow.**

 **"** **Is this how I die, was my mission all for nothing," she thought to herself. Still with her eyes shut tightly she waited for her end but as time went by she felt nothing more than the pain on her ankle. She opened her eyes again only to see the child standing in front of the shadow, protecting her from its jaws and the shadow made an displeased growl.**

 **"** **No, my friend," the muffled voice of the child said before turning around to Thalia and kneeling to her level. Talia looked up at the clad faced child, her eyes wide and wild as she stared at the faceless mask hovering over her in awe. She saw the same markings on the mask that the artifact had and her curiosity grew. Wondering if it had anything to do the artifact. Talia reached out to touch it on impulse, but the child's pet snarled in warning. Putting her bloody hand down Thalia decided to just observe while the child stood over her wasn't any wounds but Thalia could see the hole where the wound was. She was at lost of words. She practically lost her mind right there.**

 **"** **you hurt, stay still," she heard the child say before they got up and walked towards the artifact. After countless minutes searching the ground by hand the child finally grasped it. Picking it up, the child stared blankly at the cold golden cross before walking back over to Talia, their small hands smoking and blistering but the child showed no signs of discomfort as they simply threw the cross in her lap.**

 **"** **Why are you giving this to me?" Talia asked before picking up the cross and turning it over to admire the details engraved in the child giggled walking away and Talia looked up to them again, her brows knitted in confusion as she tried to ease herself up to straighten out her bruised back on the cold stone wall and understand what was going on. Talia felt uneasiness the more the child talked or stood near her, she didn't fully understand what was happening but all she knew was that this child definitely wasn't normal nor were they something horrible created in Zincs lab. So what were they? And who were they? Ignoring the cross Talia felt this was the perfect opportunity to asked questions.**

 **"** **Who hurt you," Talia practically whispered, trying hard to stay awake as her body slowly gave out from the amount of blood she lost earlier. The child simply stood quite, looking away towards the beast who sat still the entire time watching them, especially Talia, interact. It's shrouded body blended in with the dark environment, making it impossible to see unless it opened its glowing eyes. It stared Talia right in the eyes, bringing a feeling of dread to her soul. It's gaze so immense that she simply looked away back to the disturbing child in front of her.**

 **"** **Bad people," the child finally replied and Talia got the feeling she knew who it was. The shadow growled making Talia flinch and it got up to stand near the child. The shadow was towering over the child and could've easily killed them but for some reason it seem to be attached to them instead.**

 **"** **Is that your friend sweety," Talia shakily asked, her courage crushed to pieces as she watch the child's hand brush over it's misty body. She received a nod from the clad face of the child but it left her with more questions.**

 **"** **Why," Talia finally asked, not feeling like it was safe enough for a small child to be around one of the most deadliest creatures that were birth from the darkness. The small child cocked their head to the side in utter confusion, perhaps not understanding the question but before any questions were answered a loud noise distracted all three of them and judging by how tense the child got she knew it wasn't another one of their mysterious friends.**

 **The shadow immediately threw itself around the child to protect them from whatever was making it's way into the cave. Talia's breath caught in her throat at the shadows reaction and she tried to ease her shivering as best as she could. Trying to make out the foot steps and voice, Talia watch the darkness in fear. She drew the cross closer to her chest to keep herself in the light as she struggled to see into the darkness. She didn't like that, not being able to see what's coming for her, it threw her off immensely.**

 **All of a sudden Talia heard the shadow cat leave the child's side as it rushed the entrance to the cave aggressively. It's claws rattling on the ground distance itself from them and the child was startled by the abrupt outburst. The child ran to Talia's side but quickly retreated as the rays from the cross burned their arm. Not wanting to get into detail Talia toss the cross to the side far enough that the light wasn't hurting the child anymore before wrapping her bruised arms around the child's shoulder and setting their head on her chest. She could feel the child trembling and she wished she was able to resist the urge to comfort something that obviously wasn't human.**

 **She heard gunshots and soon after that the screaming started. Talia stared at the dark entrance frighten, the darkness obscuring the bloody scene unfolding just a few feet away. It was then that a figure, covered in blood from head to toe, came stumbling towards them.**

 **"** **Run." Said the missing soldier from the first recon mission through a bloody mouth before falling to the ground. His back shredded with four long gashes down to the bone. She screamed out, forcefully pushing the child away from her to crawl towards him only to be stopped by a massive paw on her lower back.**

 **"** **Get off of me you sonofabitch," She spat through bloody teeth. The unidentified soldiers gun was just a few centimeters away, but the shadow knew what she was going to do before she did. It grabbed her back leg and flung her against the wall. Knocking her unconscious.**

 **The shadow then returned its attention to the lifeless body of the man, licking its muzzle it took the man into its wide mouth, devouring him whole. Its loud chewing woke up Talia, who cringed with the loud crunching. She clenched her side to ease the pain, hoping nothing more was broken.**

 **Once the shadow was done with its meal and it had liquefied the weapon it turned its attention back to Talia once again. Its head low and body arched to pounce, it showed several perfect rows of teeth. Small pieces of flesh fell by its feet from its glowing mouth as the shadow approached her aggressively making Thalia paralyzed by fear.**

 **"** **wait," Talia asked the monster before blood splattered her face. She watched the blank dead expression of the beast before it's massive head fell into her lap followed by its body. Behind it was the faceless child, their clawed hand raised in the air as thick silver blood ran down their arm. The hieroglyphics engraved in the mask lite up gold at the same time as the artifact and the child lose balance slightly.**

 **"** **Bad kitty!" the child said in an angry weak voice, wiping the silver blood on their iron cloth leg. Talia stared at the child in amazement and disbelief. Not sure whether she was next or not she panicked. Trying her hardest to get the heavy body off her legs and move further back against the wall Talia's eyes never left the child. As the child move towards her Talia held up a hand to keep them at bay as she tried to find a solution to the problem.**

 **"** **Stay away from me, I don't know what the fuck you are," Talia said trying to get distance from the child, but the dead body on her legs kept her still. Frustrated, Talia let out a huff and stopped struggling. "Dammit," she said as she looked over at the child. The moment she told them to get away from her they found a dark corner and sat down, sobbing. Talia tried her best to ignore them, staring up at the ceiling, she knew she needed to start moving, if her brothers squad was out here, so were the others and she'll be damned if her brother got killed out here.**

 **She cleared her throat and licked her chapped lips, her ankle swelled and was black and blue. The body of the beast not easing the pressure. She saw the cross in the corner, it's light bright and beautiful and she wondered what the child meant when they gave it to her. Realizing she wasn't going anywhere for the time being she finally caved to the sad child.**

 **"** **Hey kid, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to yell at you like that," but the child shrugged like it was nothing and remained facing the wall. "Brat," thought Thalia as she tried to make conversation before she went mad.**

 **"** **I'm sorry about your friend too. Thank you for saving me," but the child remained unfazed. The fact that they killed their "friend" for her made it difficult to criminalize the small being.**

 **"** **He's not dead, he's asleep." and Talia's heart melted by the innocence of that sentence. She looked over at the child, pondering how young they were and if they knew what death was. But the longer she stared at the small pathetic being, the more in danger she felt.**

 **"** **What makes you think he's sleeping," Talia question the child trying to make small talk as she waited for her end. She just hoped that the child would make it quick and not leave her here to die of exposure to the other shadow cats or starvation.**

 **Talia didn't know what reality was any more. She didn't care either way, she just wanted to awake from this horrible nightmare. Talia still had questions that needed to be answered like, why was the child here, who hurt them, why was their pet a dangerous predator, how was the child able to heal so quickly, were they another type of high grade human made in a lab and did they have parents that were looking for them and how did the child come in contact with the artifact. She didn't have enough energy to ask, her eyes squinted from lack of sleep and she shivered once again as a draft graced the cavern. Exhausted, she slowly drifted into oblivion, the child finally getting up to curl up beside her for warmth. She didn't hear the creature come alive nor had she noticed it piecing itself together again. The two of them slept peacefully and the shadow sat at the entrance for protection, waiting for it's next meal.**


End file.
